Drawing insulin
Let's look at how to draw insulin using a syringe. If you're using a clear insulin, you can go on to the information about drawing it from the vial, but if your insulin is a cloudy one, it needs to be resuspended before you can work with it. Before each use, take a moment to inspect the insulin prior to drawing it into the syringe; clear insulins should appear not discolored and clear; suspended insulins should be uniform in their cloudinessRxEd.org-Insulin Therapy-Stability & StorageKeeping an Eye on Your Insulin-Diabetes Health-2001. If you need to work with more than one insulin in a syringe, the procedure for doing that is slightly different; see Combining insulin. Step one Remove the needle cap and pull the plunger down to the number of units you intend to inject. You want the amount of "air units" to equal the amount of insulin units you'll be drawing from the vial. Step two Push the needle through the insulin vial's rubber stopper. Inserting the needle all the way into the vial makes it less easy to bendWashington State University-Diabetes Mellitus. If you should bend a needle while drawing insulin, discard the syringe and start again; don't try to straighten it outInjecting Insulin-Transcript of American Diabetes Association Videotape. Step three Inject the "air units" you drew up a moment ago (equal to the number of units you will draw from the insulin vial) into the vial. The purpose of this is to make it easier to be able to draw the insulin from the vial. Step four Turn the insulin vial with the syringe still stuck into it upside-down. Step five Pull the syringe plunger slowly to get the insulin into the syringe, making sure you are drawing up the right number of units. If you draw too many, you can push then back into the vial from the syringe; the important thing is that the drawn dosage is correct. Step six If you find bubbles, push the entire amount of insulin in the syringe back into the vial and start from step five again. If you do get air bubbles into the syringe, it's ok with most insulins to re-inject the insulin into the vial and draw again until the air is goneInjecting Insulin-Transcript of American Diabetes Association Videotape-2003. Check that this is ok with your insulin. See also injecting insulin. Slower draw is less likely to draw bubbles. To eliminate bubbles: If drawing insulin from a vial, set the syringe plunger to the dosage you want to draw, put the needle into the top of the vial while the vial is still upright, and push all the air out of the syringe. This will maintain air pressure equilibrium in the vial once you draw the dose and, because the vial is upright, will not cause air bubbles to mix with the solution. Turn the vial upside down and draw the insulin slowly. Another way to get rid of syringe air bubbles is to hold the syringe upright and give it a tap or two with your fingerHow to Get Air Bubbles Out of Vetsulin (or any insulin)-eHow. The problem with having air bubbles in the injection is that you will not be getting the full dose of insulin; the bubbles take the place of it American Diabetes Association 2002 Position Statement-Insulin Administration. Some people prefer to gently jiggle their vials to make any air bubbles rise to the top, away from where the needle will draw. Remove the syringe from the vial and put the needle cap back on the syringe; you're now ready to give an insulin shot. References Category:Tips Category:Introduction Category:Insulins Category:Content